Ready to Build a Project?

"My son's an architect," were some of his last words. It's, among many, one of the reasons I spent so much time and effort on the desert shelter project.

One thing that always stuck in my mind was his saying, "relationships are the most important things in life."

So, friends, thank you.

It's hard to imagine it took 16 years to earn this piece of paper, and now it's 6 days past.

I'm not sure what the real value is. Is it the ability to stick to something? The money I might earn? The beauty I'll share with people? For me it's good to question, because I gave up so much of life's other things to do it - to remain steadfastly focused.

After finishing school and working at a few firms I was laid off like many people in 2009. Unemployment ran out. I took the first job that came along - a parking lot attendant in Tempe, AZ.

The most memorable day was when I was assigned to a lot that faced ASU's architecture building. I sat in a simple chair reading Homer's "The Odyssey" and the dean of the architecture department drove in in his fancy car. After selling him a ticket for $5, I didn't have the heart to tell him I had a master's degree in architecture or that I was only 4 1/2 months short of being able to take the exams.

So I sat and wondered, "why did I receive this setback?" It lasted nearly 5 years.

That drought ended, and as this paper shows, I was hired by a firm for the last few months and the exams were taken.

Perhaps, this is so later when I'm swamped with work I'll remember when I didn't have any. Couldn't get any.

Turning to ancient thoughts again here is a snippet from Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations", "to look for the fig in winter is a madman's act."

All things have their time - - their season when ripe; it must be architect season.

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Congratulations on earning the title "Architect". Dreams do come true, and you are doing exactly what you were meant to do. Keep your focus because your talent is worth it all.
I have seen your desert shelter at Taliesen West and I shall always remember how it felt to be there in that landscape.
-Stille Tra"nen